Testing Start to 2017

Had the joy of a couple of spells of crashing on the bike over the last few months ruining my new winter kit, that I brought through sponsorship and the shifters on my road bike, which has been very costly! Silver lining although very upset at the costs which are spiralling (who ever said you don't have to spend much to train/race was lying!!!) at least I wasn't injured, apart from gravel rash and then gravel rash ontop of the gravel rash I already had on the hip!

My sponsors have continued to be brilliant at helping me out and am so very grateful for that, it's a struggle some times to even find enough money for food and I couldn't even afford to train let alone race without them..... So thank you:)

The financial constraints have hit again as I'm still struggling to find full time work so had to drop out of considering York as my first lot of paracycle races. Instead I raced a local Time Trial yesterday as it was 5 minutes down the road from me and also the longest TT I have done to date at 30 miles. It went okay although it didn't really show the kind of improvements my testing form over the winter was pointing to. I was hoping to hold the same average speed that I did on the 25 mile last year on the same roads, as my improvements pointed towards me being able to do it. Weather conditions wouldn't have helped yesterday because the swirling wind meant that you got tail, head and side winds without changing direction. It was going well initially holding 40kmh, which was above my targets with relatively low power and heart rate but then got off the nice new tarmac onto the old surface and it just beat me. I ended up averaging about 37.8kmh which is over a kmh slower than I had targeted. First race Time Trial of the year and the lack of race fitness is evident. I'v trained and tested so hard over the winter and made big improvements but its not racing. I can take the positive I suppose that although I was down on my 25 from last year, I was about 2kmh average quicker yesterday than when I raced a 16 at the BC championships:)

Need to race importantly, keep turning the screw though and step it up!

Moving Forward

Its been a good couple of months of training and things have steadily improved. The goals of improving top end power have been achieved but I always want more and the goal of four figures for the top end effort is still some way off but atleast I am heading in the right direction. Functional Threshold Power which is tested over 20 minutes on Training Peaks has steadily rose and apart from picking up a cold this week am feeling like I am in a good place to be starting the racing season in March.

Ive earmarked 3 para series weekends of racing, York in March, Essex in May and my A race the BC National Championships in July. I'm also looking to do a 12 hour TT this year for charity but am looking for one later in the year. I will also look to race more crit races but it will just depend on money and any work I am doing I think I just need to race as much as possible this year but again that does come down to money.

Since my previous problems with bursitis it has all settled down, even with increasing training load and intensity. Ian who is coaching me for Pav Bryan coaching has been putting good session plans in which are improving fitness and power.

A Slog

This month has just been one of those months where I have been training with post crash injuries and the knee bursa, its just been a tough slog. Although I am now seeing the back end of both the bursa that has gone down just leaving some bruising and the ribs are no where near as tender, so things are in a better place.

Iv  had no races to focus me at this time of year which I don't normally have a problem with but had a recovery week last week and just didn't feel recovered come the end of it yesterday! I struggled most  of the week to find motivation which is very unusual for me and the body felt very lethargic in general. I think life stress with work and money probably plays a big part but it was definitely a tough one. Its turned cold very quickly to which it seems to do in the UK, it seems to suddenly drop by 10 degrees so doing less intense rides you really have to dress up warm to stay comfortable. You can always take stuff off and stuff it in your pockets so I never worry about being over dressed and its always good to have plenty with you just incase of a mechanical.

The last day of the recovery week yesterday I was feeling allot sharper though. It was a Sunday 3 hour Club ride with Ashford Wheelers and although I did try to make sure to take it easy, its difficult when you take in a few long hills, fun ride though and that's what is most needed sometimes.

I start the next 3 week build tomorrow which I am looking forward to working at and hitting some performance goals!

New Beginnings

I think I say this every time but I really must post this more often as I think it has been a year again, so some of the information may be a little sketchy, it’s been a flat-out year again!

Coming to the end of last year, having not raced any triathlon due to the stress fracture in the foot I was starting to reflect more and more on my future in triathlon/paratriathlon. I had killed myself trying to find some fitness post injury, to trial for the GB team again and come up  short as to be honest I expected, you have to give it a go though, nothing ventured nothing gained. While I had been injured though I hadn’t missed certain parts of training in the slightest, running being one and transition practice the other, the only thing I can say I missed was the races and training camps.

As much as I played mind games to try and convince myself that I liked running, I really just don’t want to run and that is a big issue when it’s a big part of the sport and training!

I think it was around Christmas that I decided to knock the triathlon on the head, I always enjoyed racing but hated the run training, trying to fit the training in was a pig to and just wanted to do something that I actually enjoyed. Over Christmas I had also been invited to go along to the GB pathway testing and training camps over the year. The first one was early in January and while not particularly fit I did okay in testing not being much off my PB on the power test, most probably because of being able to concentrate on just one sport. I made some new friends, the coaching was brilliant at the camps and testing and just all in all an awesome experience.

My introduction to road racing

My first para road race came round on a horrendously wet, windy and just miserable day but I felt up for the new challenge having never done this pack kind of racing! We was mixed in with the Cat 4 able bodied which is a miss mash of riders with no experience to some that have been racing for years but never made it up to cat3. It didn’t stay a pack for long as everyone went off at full sprint and I got dropped on about the third corner I think. I couldn’t believe how fast they could hit corners on such a wet track (The road races I have done this year have all been on race circuits, crit races) and by the time I realised my bike that I had been kindly loaned that day would do the same I was out of contact.

The goal for me then was to keep working on my fitness but to work mainly on top end power to cover breaks and also more importantly just on road craft! Next race up was National championships, both road and a 16 mile TT which was another 6 miles longer than I had done before and with power testing the day before the racing it would be a good test of fitness. Power tests went okay improving right across the board so it was a good start, TT the following day was horrendous and I just didn’t perform well. The road race was a tough one again, just still didn’t have the power to cover and keep up when the break happened early on again. I felt happier with my performance though as I new with where I was at that point in time I had nothing left come the end of the hour race.

Next up for me was Welwyn-Garden-City, it had been a couple of months as I just didn’t have the money to race but new I had moved on massively so was feeling very confident. It was a very technical, fast street circuit around the town and I went out hard moving to the front and holding position round the first few corners and round the bottom end of the course. Unfortunately about a lap in the chain jammed up in the crank, I put it back on and carried on but having had the pack go past me new it was over and when it happened again it wouldn’t unjam so was time to call it a day.  

My last race of the season was at Southend Cycle Centre, the para was mixed in with cat 3/4 rather than just the 4, so a move up in class which I saw as a positive. The circuit had a short hill with a kick at the end of every lap and a downhill with a 90˚ bend at each start, which really suited the lighter racer like me. I did eventually get dropped but made it to 20 minutes in this time and in a stronger field. So on reflection took this as a positive and a big move forward as I had been getting dropped on the first corner at the start of the year and in a weaker cat. I think after a good winter I will come out the other side very strong for next season!

Iv been fairly lucky all year, having not crashed and have been injury free too but have just had a bit of a pig of a week. First a big crash on the rollers then had a bursa get infected above my stump and knee(ongoing problem that I just have to manage)  and then finally a pretty heavy crash out on the road, hurting my ribs. I was already on anti-inflammatories for the bursitis so the amount of pain from pressure on the ribs but non from things like press ups say that it is probably a break rather than just bruising or muscular damage. That’s just part and parcel of racing/training though and whatever happens I love going out training now which makes the training so much easier.

Thank you

It was also an honour to be asked by the ArcticOne charity to be one of their ambassadors http://www.arctic1.co.uk/, they are a brilliant charity and do great work. They have sponsored me this year and helped with costs of races and travel and I have been along to some of their events when I can make it. I was also taken on as a brand ambassador for PavBryan Coaching http://www.pavbryan.com/ , so it is really nice to be coached again, this time in a different sport and be able to support a local company. The client group is also a very supportive group who all have their own goals but work well together and makes it feel like a club!

Other stuff

I’m still looking for work after finishing university last year and it’s been very stressful as its been a real struggle but I’m nothing if not resilient! Losing my prosthetist, Alan very soon to which is so gutting as I have been with him the longest of all my prosthetists, he is brilliant at the job and very knowledgeable as part of R & D for Blatchfords to but is moving on so wish him all the luck in the world with his new role.

Think you will fail you probably will, think you will succeed you probably willJ

Definitely need to update more often, had to really skim over the year!!!

 

I'm Still About

Its been along time and have let the posts here laps but its been a very busy time!

After the British Paratriathlon Championships last year I was feeling confident of my progression after many injuries through the winter with stump and shoulder problems I was starting to feel a little more race fit. Thinking my season may have been coming to a close I was looking back on the season and my performances in the new moderate limb impairment category and it was hard to swallow that even though I had improved I was now coming in at the back of the pack! All you can do though is analyse and change what you know is not working.

It wasn't that long after the Brits that I picked up knee bursitis again on my knee on the amputated side, as always rest is the only way this will go. Unfortunately at the time I was doing a biodiversity study at the Wye Downs for my BSc in Plant Sciences Dissertation, which didn't make resting up that easy. Through more luck than judgment it did subside within a couple of weeks with lots of ice and sleeping in a stump compression sock which seemed to work well.

Late on in the season I got a bit of a last minute place in ITU Madrid Paratriathlon, which was very exciting and another chance to represent GB and hopefully move up the places a bit. The lead up was pretty stressful trying to get my study done, get assignments in at uni, work, race build prep and trying to find the money to pay for some horrendously expensive plan tickets as it was booked quit late. Leading into the race I was feeling good though and for the first time in a long time my running was getting quicker, my mind felt in a good place to push into and past that mental barrier you hit sometimes. There was positive and negatives to take from Madrid though, I went out as always with very little nerves and feeling very confident in myself and my race plan. When the horn went off I hit it hard and got out in front of the field and drafted the faster swimmers as much as possible to get a good toe as they came past. I came out of the swim in my fastest time to date in ITU races, by quit a bit. The transition 1 and my bike was a long one so I put my run leg on for this and ran along the pontoon, through the walkways and back to transition, all going smoothly. The bike section went very smooth and was taking back places and feeling so strong, the course with so small sharp hills and sharp turns was made for me. To this point it was by fare my best performance but after the bike and transitioning into the run leg the vacuum problems started very early on with the leg just not staying on properly! The leg was pistoning back and forth onto the end of my stump and was agony, I kept stopping to take it off and reposition it but it just wasn't happening and people in all categories were all just fly past, it was just so soul destroying! I now thought I was in last place and was in so much pain with my stump that I was going to pull out with about a mile to go. I saw there was a below knee amputee not that fare ahead though so as I was starting to catch him even with keep stopping I carried on and passed him heading into the finish. Only to find out after the race he was in the category below, it destroyed me, that's racing though. I had performed to the best of my ability at that time and things had just gone badly in the run, which is something Blatchfords have been working on to help solve this problem.

After a very short break to let the battered stump heal the winter training block started well, putting down a good base to build on as with the season starting so early and the need to score points early in the year I would need to be race fit earlier 2015. My shoulder injury that had held me back for 2 years now was getting stronger and swimming was going well, I had suffered bursitis again but caught it early and although I couldn't cycle I could still run without any issues or pain. It's just different sockets for different things and the cadence and movement of cycling on the knee is just something that is very different to running where it is a smaller movement. I spent Christmas at my parents in Scotland with my brother, we ran every other day, I carried on with my core work and swim training at a local pool in Dunoon.

At the start of January 2015 I did a GB training camp, it was brilliant to catch up with team mates, review previous goals, set new goals and get some first class quality training in, it was just a brilliant weekend. I had been suffering just general foot pain for about a year that came and went and I just put down to wear and tear and training stresses but the following week I struggled to walk some mornings. After seeing my consultant and a couple months of different scans they showed lots of old ailments, two toes that have fused from previous breaks and a possible recent fracture that was healing. None of it was helping the running though and I stopped run training to try and let it heal in January, it continued for months though with no real improvement. I had by now missed another GB training weekend and by march there was signs on another scan that I might have osteochondritis but after further investigation was ruled out. Frustration was building the triathlon season had started and I had missed by now with exception of one light technique track session with Hayley Ginn to see how the foot was and as normal I could run but suffered problems after. All further scans I had at the end of May ( I think it was may) showed no new damage and any fractures had healed. I started back running but the season is pretty much over and am just looking for a race or two to aim for. Running stiffness and stump pain wasn't great to start off, even taking it very easy, you just cant underestimate how much of a toll take 7 months off running has on the body! Speed has just started to come back now after about 3 weeks of building and the inclusion of some track and running on grass rather than just pounding the tarmac seams to have helped the foot. Also trying to run a little further back on the forefoot, it all seems to be coming together though and am feeling positive.

British Paratriathlon Championships Liverpool 2014

British Paratriathlon Championships, Liverpool 10 August 2014

 

At the race briefing the night before the race there was the warning of possible 40-50mph gusts from the impending storm and the possibility of the race having to be altered to aquathon or duathlon. It was expected though and we had enough warning of weather problems all through the week so wasn’t a surprise. The transitions and water exit was a surprise though, just ridiculous for my category there being both leg and arm impairments it changed the race completely! It was the way it was though and myself and Phil who was helping me in transition had a look over everything after the briefing and completely changed the planed transitions we had practiced. The morning of the race as with most of my races no nerves, just very calm and calculating.

 

Swim 12:53 Including getting up stairs after water exit

After getting in the water and making my way over to the swim start I made sure to position myself by two of the fastest swimmers so I could get a drag off them on the start. I didn’t stay with them for more than 20m and dropped back into a smaller pack that I just sat on the heal of the front guy till the last 200m or so when I put a big effort in to get myself a good position coming into the water exit  handlers. On the exit the two water handlers got either side of me and I hoped up the steps to pre transition where I had decided as it was such a long way into T1 to put my running blade on rather than the cycle leg as normal, it was just to fare to run on cycle leg. It wasn’t the smoothest of wet suit removals but was okay and got my running blade on okay.

 

T1 3:55

Phil ran in with me to T1, it was such a long way though through corridors down steps and seemed to go on forever, it was under the building and think it was the car park normally. When I reached my bike I put my helmet on grabbed my bike and rather than putting the cycle leg on ran to the mount line which was up and down more slopes and outside on the road. I crossed the mount line, my brother had run up with me holding the cycle leg and cycle shoe, I put them on and was off.

 

Bike 33:23 Included taking off run leg and putting on cycle leg and shoe after mount line so happy with time

Out and back two lap course so really good to try and chase down people and felt so strong on the bike and have only been riding this one for about two weeks. I was making up time on the guys in front but not as much as I had wanted. Although wet surface the weather had held off just enough and just had some light shows and was just really loving being on the bike!!!

 

T2 3:04

My brother, Phil again was a star and had stayed at the mount/dismount line ready with my run leg and extra sock I use for that leg socket. I was worried coming to the end of the bike that I hadn’t told him to stay there and would have to run down the ramp in the cycle leg. I swopped my legs over in pre transition, gave my brother the cycle leg and we headed down into transition, Phil allot faster than me! I took it a little steady running down the slope with my bike into T2 but still managed to pass a couple of age groupers. Dumped my bike with Phil to rack, run shoe on while Phil took helmet off and I was off back up and down through the car park and out onto the run.

 

Run 20:59

The run was okay but still need to be allot quicker, the technique felt allot better and more relaxed than it has done in previous races though. I didn’t appreciate the cobbles on the course and just wasn’t running blade friendly, it was just a case of dancing across them rather than running and was glad we only crossed them twice for a couple hundred meters. A bit of cat and mouse with another BK amputee, Steve was fun though and definitely getting stronger every week, I just kept injecting pace out of corners.

 

Well done to all the other competitors across all the categories, it was a tough oneJ A massive thanks to my brother Phil, for driving up there and for being my handler in transition, just make a brilliant team. I was aiming to medal but more improvements still needed, 6^th out of not sure how many with the new category but okay and I gave it all I had on the day, I will get there!!! A big thanks also to Ashford Tri Club, my coach Paula George VO2 Coaching, sponsors Blatchfords, ALT, Lankelma, Podplus, CAF and British Triathlon.

 

adrianheathfieldparatriathlete.webs.com

 

 

Its Been A While

Like I say its been a while, I think the last post in March.

Since then I came second at the British Paraduathlon championships and just before then found out that I had been selected for the World Class GB Paratriathlon team and with it Lottery funding!

At the start of the year with all the problems I had over the winter with swelling of my leg/stump and the fall on my shoulder the plan was just to target the British Paratriathlon Championships as my target race for the year. Now though with the funding was looking to compete in more of the ITU races to get the points I needed in order to qualify for the Europeans and Worlds.

Right from the off I got two race starts on an invite on both cases, the first France and the second six days later in Hyde Park. Both races went okay but after an unsettled winter with nothing but problems the race fitness just wasn't there yet and I finished along way down the field! Importantly I also didn't score any points and then didn't make the start list for anymore internationals, this meant no selection for the Europeans and also didn't get to go to the worlds at the end of August. I just have to accept that in the new category system I just haven't performed when I needed to. Its a positive being in a tough category though as it is one that they will be using in the Rio 2016 Paralympics, so just need to get quicker which I will and have massively over the last couple of months since London.

It was a mixture of a bad winter and just not performing as I should have but either way a bit of a kick up the ass but training has gone brilliant on the build up to the British Championships that are on the 10 August. Shoulder still isn't right so swimming has been pretty rubbish but the bike has been prenominal, I have put in some massive PB's and completely changed the way I race the sprint triathlon/paratriathlon and it works. The run is really coming along just due to no equipment problems and no problems with swelling in the stump so just shows that if I can get regular training in I naturally make big improvements. It has also helped working with my coach Paula and changing my run technique, it had been to long without improvements in this discipline!

I realised the other week that I haven't had a holiday for nearly 10 years so think it might be a good idea after the seasons finished to take some winter sun somewhere and just relax
!!!